LOS ANGELES - The national plaintiffs' law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP recently announced several lawsuit filings against Zimmer Inc., the nation's largest producer of orthopedic devices, over the allegedly defective hip implant manufactured and sold by Zimmer under the brand name Durom Cup.

The Durom Cup was first sold in the U.S. in 2006, and was implanted in more than 12,000 patients over a two-year period. The complaint estimates that the failure rate of the Durom Cup so far is between 20 percent and 30 percent, according to the law firm. The true failure rate will ultimately be much higher as the device gradually fails over time, and doctors and their patients come to realize that their implants are failing, it says.

James Cabral, 57, of Victorville, Calif., on July 16 filed a personal injury lawsuit against Zimmer Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, saying he has suffered constant and devastating pain for over 18 months and will have to undergo a second hip replacement surgery because of the hip implant (James Cabral v. Zimmer Holdings, Inc., et al., No. 2:10cv5261, C.D. Calif.).

According to the law firm, in July 2008, Zimmer announced that it was temporarily suspending sales of the Durom Cup in the United States. In its announcement, Zimmer stated that the suspension was necessary "while the Company updated labeling to provide more detailed surgical technique instructions to surgeons and implements its surgical training program in the U.S."

Zimmer denies any "evidence of a defect" with the Durom Cup and has thus far refused to issue a recall notice in accordance with procedures established by the Food and Drug Administration, according to Lieff Cabraser.